Sad fates: athletes and the Ukraine war

The bar is high. Exactly 2.02 m from the ground. A sheer stare at the obstacle that needs to be overcome. The camera zooms in on the hands, on the fingernails. They are painted in the Ukrainian national colors. Yellow and blue. Yaroslava Mahuchikh starts running, a few steps and the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist is already snaking over the obstacle. She is now also world indoor champion. Even as a junior she was an exception, winning all the titles in her age group and she is still only 20 years old. She described the competition in the Serbian metropolis as “my personal front line”.

Mahuchikh comes from Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine. She traveled a mere 1450 kilometers to Belgrade by car. The route there led via Moldavia and Romania to Serbia. Yaroslava Mahuchikh traveled for 60 hours. And then she won her competition without further ado. The bar was 22 centimeters higher than her height. Before the World Indoor Championships, she spoke plainly on social media. “For several days now, almost the entire Ukraine has been waking up to explosions and gunfire. Russia attacked Ukraine. They bomb cities and shoot civilians. This is our reality. We don’t want war, but we will defend our homeland.” She felt like an ambassador for her so terribly wounded country.

Yaroslava Mahuchikh made a statement. © AFP / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

The performance in Belgrade simply had to end with a victory, combined with the hope that the incredibly heroic resistance of their compatriots against the advancing Russian military would also end in the same way. She doesn't have to go back anymore. Her sponsor from Herzogenaurach welcomes her with open arms. After all, the World Championships in Eugene (USA) are on the agenda this summer. There are also athletes who do not remain silent She is considered the favorite again, especially since her big opponent, Marija Lasitskene, the Olympic champion in Tokyo, is not allowed to start there. Both have a best of 2.06 meters. Lasitskene is married to a colleague of mine, a Russian sports reporter who is ethnic Lithuanian. She herself is a first lieutenant and therefore an officer in the Russian armed forces, which are currently trying to reduce Ukraine to rubble. But: Lasitskene is only in the army because she gets all the support for her sport there, similar to German or Italian athletes who are employed by public institutions and only rarely have to put on their uniform. You can usually see her in a tracksuit.

Nevertheless, Lasitskene is not an athlete who stays silent. She has boldly spoken out publicly and very clearly several times about Russia's doping fraud system and called for a new beginning at all levels. She certainly didn't start the war, but she can't stand up to Putin now, otherwise she would be dishonorably discharged from the army. The inevitable end of her career, which she owes to Putin's madness because she is no longer allowed to compete, shows how great the collateral damage is in Russia too. The Kremlin ruler also shows no consideration for his own people. He doesn't care about human life. With his lying propaganda he destroys families and brutally tears them apart. Families are destroyed The wife of my colleague, with whom I commentate on the current World Figure Skating Championships, comes from Russia. She has four more sisters. The father in Moscow is an ardent Putin admirer. He believes in the images and words that are presented to him every day. A daughter and sister-in-law of my colleague was broken by her father's devotion to the dictator after she was unable to disabuse him. She withdrew all the money from the bank, took her son and is on her way to Turkey. From there she wants to go via Mexico to the USA and start a new life.

It is important to me to shed light on this side, especially since the prisons in Russia are full of opposition members and demonstrators who are against Putin's aggressive policy. They are brave people who sacrifice their freedom for freedom and who also need our support. A couple's appearance gives hope Meanwhile, the World Figure Skating Championships continue, of course without Russian participation. And also with athletes from Ukraine. Sofia Holichenko and Artem Darenskyi took part in the pair skating. Both come from Kiev and were allowed to travel to Montpellier with a special permit. Darenskyi definitely has to go back. Back to arms to fight against the Russian invaders. The couple's appearance pushed sport completely into the background for a moment. Ratings suddenly became secondary. The audience in the hall rose to their feet during her short program. The applause afterwards was worthy of a world champion. Neither wore any external symbol, such as a heart in the Ukrainian colors, on their jacket. That wasn't necessary either. A Ukrainian heart beats in them and hopefully for a long time.

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Sad fates: athletes and the Ukraine war

Our columnist Sigi Heinrich, who is currently commentating on the World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier for Eurosport (with Daniel Grassl), uses a few examples to make it clear what devastating effects the war in Ukraine is also having on Russian society. And how sport is also involved.

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